Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers v Braga, and More – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Match ended: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Game over: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Introduction
Latest Standings
These early results greatly affect the Europa League table. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and regained position in the safety of qualification spots.
| Position | Side | P | GD | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Midtjylland | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| 3 | Freiburg | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 | Ferencvaros | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| 5 | FC Porto | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 17 | Celtic | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 25 | Nottm Forest | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 35 | Rangers | 4 | -7 | 0 |
| 33 | Malmo FF | 4 | -5 | 1 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the three points and became tied on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the competition table. The English side had difficulty of that at the end.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys earned a hope through Monteiro but only have additional time to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Game Developments
Villa, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with visiting fans confronting police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and toward the field, with the player being hit on the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Referee: The German referee (Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, The striker.
Official: Lindhout (Netherlands)
Preamble
Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The these sides have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the continental championship 46 years ago that entwines these two together, with the record-breaking signing Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, unassuming and low-key amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the revelry," noted the journalist. Theirs has been an remarkable feat that it is unlikely to be replicated – from Second Division to European football in three seasons."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Nordic team to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.
Tonight's game is a far cry from that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are absolutely buzzing after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this live coverage. The Glasgow club have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the competition table at the middle of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a late surge for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the concluded fixtures, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
